Fantastic Four!

Celebrated this little firecracker a week early... He was so excited to have a "birthday party".  Family came, loved on him a lot, ate and drank to their hearts content.

4 Things I love about you...
1. I love that you are so expressive - your face is a window inside your head and heart - you love to get a reaction from whatever facial expression you're providing!
2. I love that you look both ways before crossing the street - at 4 - every time.  The older boys still don't do this.  You are very conscientious about following that rule.
3. I love that you still enjoy sitting on my lap with a blanket.  You are my cuddle bug.
4. I love that you make me laugh - every day.  Along with #1 you can cut up like anyone older than you and know when things are funny.

We enjoy you so much Seth Patrick. 

when #3 turned 3...

oh boy.  my last little boy is 3.  he broke the mold.  has done zero like his older brothers.  into everything since he could crawl.  not afraid of climbing, jumping, falling.  loves all sorts of cars, trucks, anything motorized.  still likes to be held.  loves to be read to.  loves to read by himself.  loves anything his older brothers are doing (tablets, cartoons, playing outside, food!)
 

oh but one more... of all the things he loves... he HATEs the potty... happy 3rd birthday sweet boy!

maybe we'll try at 4... diapers til 4... eh.

3 things I love about you Seth!

1. you don't mind being silly and love to laugh.

2. you love being sneaky... like the song "shut up and dance with me"...has "shut up" in it...but it's okay to sing it because it's a song... ;)

3. you make me smile everyday.  every single day.  

latest and greatest...

I think this blog has turned into a quarterly update.  I look at this thing every single day and read about other people's lives...there going's on...and I think that I really ought to put something down to keep track of what has been going on and then I get busy with work, with home life or just think "oh there's too much to write about".  

What's funny is if you looked at the pictures on my phone you'd see that I am doing a pretty good job at documenting what has been going on.  So maybe I should just post pictures and give little explanations... that might make me feel better about blogging.  

From where I left off last post (Christmas tree was up...) - the weeks were hard.  Curt was working PEAK and traveling which left me to do e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.  I do mean it literally... referee, butler, chauffeur, chef, maid, banker, lawyer, negotiator, tutor, librarian, mom, cheerleader, coach, all of it.  I don't know how families do it when this is the norm.  This 'norm' about broke me.  I was so glad when Christmas Day came for the mere fact that it meant no more time away from Curt and schedules would go back to normal. But then... Christmas Day did come and it was hard also.  We had to visit both sides of the family that day.  Its just the way it worked out.  It was what was best for every one's schedules.  By the end of the night we were all over stimulated, tired, hungry, annoyed - you name it.  I am hoping/praying we don't have to try and swing both sides again...maybe when the boys are teenagers it would be OK?

My birthday came... Mark very earnestly asked "Mom are you 73?"... glad you know your numbers and know that is the number from what you are looking at, but goodness... do i look 73?  I hope when I'm 73 he is there and can ask me again, "Mom are you 37?".

For my birthday I asked for under cabinet lighting and lighting above the cabinets for ambiance...because that's how we roll at the Wilson house - it's all about 'how you feel'... bah!  It was relatively inexpensive thanks to Amazon/prime.  And because my husband is super handy especially with anything electronic it was merely a couple of weekend adventure.

The boys treated me well that day - I think this was my birthday where Seth was vacuuming.  'gotta start 'em young' - 'you're welcome future daughter-in-law!'.

Also for my birthday my folks got me gift cards & baskets so I could make our pantry look 'pretty'.  I know - 1st world problems, but it makes me feel good to walk into that room and know exactly where something is, how much of it I have and everything grouped together that needs to be.

Also in January we started a new program with the older boys - "Wilson Reading program" which really means "read your minutes through the week and I'll let you play your tablet uninterrupted all weekend!"  They are doing really well with it - some days are harder to encourage the minutes, but for the most part they love seeing on Friday that they've read all they need to and can enjoy the "commission" of tablet play.  As a side note, just so I don't think back and think that it was a complete free for all - we had to adjust the tablet rules to just one day / weekend because no one was listening or paying attention... go figure.  learn as you go though.

My best friend sent me a picture of her youngest.  She cut her own bangs.  Pretty short.  I did this to my sister when I was younger, although I don't think I stopped at the bangs.  I think it was all over chop.  Pretty funny.

One of my cousins is going to play college football for a division 1 program.  I guess he's "walking on", but I really believe in my heart that this kid will get to play and play a lot in the future.  He's got incredible determination.  

In early February we had some sickness going around - typical coughing / slight fever for the older two.  Then poor Seth got it bad...like awful.  Puking from a Monday night to a Friday morning.  He just could not keep anything down.  Finally got him eating again / drinking milk...then the following Tuesday he woke up screaming at the top of his lungs...no consoling, no comfort.  He stayed home all day with Curt, but when I got home we ran to the Dr... good thing we did - poor guy had 2 ear infections.  After 10 days of the good ol' pink stuff we are back and raring to go!

he had just pooped and it literally knocked him out...no energy after pooping...

Funny thing happened at Wal-mart...said no mom ever... it's not usually funny...but stressful, chaotic...but this was pretty funny.  Seth was walking around (instead of in the cart) and was loving every minute of it.  Suddenly he says "Mom!  Mom!  Poo Poo" and then just sits down on the makeup aisle floor.  He was serious.  I felt bad for the teenage girl walking through - trying to buy some new nail polish... free birth control in the make up aisle!  ha ha.

Next - took a day off in late February and went to hit golf balls.  I had never done this before.  Apparently I'm not half bad.  183 yards.  

And finally... I have made a quilt.  Yes - me...with a mother who hates to sew... not sure where I get it...maybe it skipped a generation?  But yes a full King size - quilted quilt.  It's lovely.  I am pretty proud of it.  My mother in law who helped me exponentially with it is pretty proud too...

and for all the mother's out there - saw this...laughed and thought of us all at some point.

catch up...

helloooo...  i hope one day the boys read these posts and laugh at my words...laugh at how long it takes me to post something of importance (to me)....  maybe one day i'll turn it into a book?

• halloween - almost 2 full months ago!
• we had a great time - bit of a neighborhood block party was had due to halloween, Royals in the World Series and of course candy/adult beverages...it was a pretty great time.  lots of kids running around - new neighbors / old neighbors meeting up, adding each other to facebook friends list, phone numbers for texting later :)  kind of neat really :)
• here were the boys - we had "Toothless" from How to Train Your Dragon (Mark); "a green dragon" (handmedown - poor kid - thirdbornproblems, Seth) and of course "Batman" (Noah).

They had a great time - not too much candy either!

• Seth's Birthday - wondered if I should give him his own post, but I am going to cram all of this together anyway... he won't mind:)
• We were all recovering from barf-o-rama 2015 during his real birthday day...apple crisp was all i could muster, but no one complained...and everyone kept it down ;)

• We tried again with the rest of the family a couple of weeks later...

• My mom made the cake - it was pretty amazing!  he loves LOVES LOVES trucks - like in order of importance in his world - its Dada, PAPA, PAPA's truck, and trucks...and dogs... dogs are always sprinkled in there in between.

• Not sure what is up with the 'squinting', but he's been doing this lately when we say "smile" or "cheese"... pretty darn cute!

• On to Thanksgiving...
• no pictures...lame to the l.a.m.e.  we were there - my brother - my parents...the boys (all of them) ate about a million crescent rolls... i took a huge nap... football, etc...

• Christmas decorating - ha!
• so we're trying one.more.year. with the almighty tree...the darn thing still is dying... 

1st light up:

l - to - the - a - to - the - m - to - the - e...sheesh

2nd lighting:

pretty excited!

• Last but not least... 
• helping with Noah's basketball team... assistant coach sort of... it's so awesome...the boys are crazy...8yrs old...don't pay attention longer than 2seconds... bounce the balls all over the place, but it's so fun... way more fun than soccer coaching... maybe because i know how to play basketball...LOL

so bossy!

• and tis the reason for the season!  

Pony Party... otherwise known as the Wilson's going away party...

some family members are moving to Hawaii... yes, yes  Hawaii!  I am jealous, flat out jealous.  Only for 2 years.  Its going to be great - I think so anyway.

In honor of them leaving the continental 48... my in-laws threw them a going away party, complete with miniature horses to ride for all the kids... they were all pretty happy and excited.  I told my mother in-law she set that bar so stinking high, from now on if there are no ponies involved you're going to have a hard time getting my kids there...

here are some my cuties enjoying the day!

Seth's big boy hair cut

Can't leave the little one out of the ol' blog posts.  Gave him his first big boy hair cut and in the Wilson family it means using the clippers... guard 7 on this little guy... turned out great if i do say so myself!

Seth turned 1!

Look at me - posting the same day as the child's birthday!?  I know I can't believe it either... for once "third born problems" are turning into a positive if only because I know I'll do it now/tonight instead of 3 months from now...

We had a great day today - Seth woke up in a great mood to me singing Happy Birthday to him... he just smiled - I was hoping to get him used to the attention so he'd be excited/happy when the entire family/friend group did the same thing to him today...  Everyone came (family / friends) - we had a light lunch provided once again by my mom and dad and a cake that I made (zuchinni & greek yogurt -- it was pretty amazing if you ask me...and from the pictures of Seth he liked it too!)

Honestly he was a super easy baby... I mean his birth, him waking up in the middle of the night... teeth...everything really hasn't been too bad... Is that because I was somewhat confident in what I was doing?  Is it because nothing really phased me this time...I'd seen it, heard it, smelt it, dealt with it a million times before?  Probably... thankfully...

He is such a happy kid - like all the time... he's always interested in whatever the older boys are in to now and wants to be with them on the floor playing and getting into stuff...

I am excited to see what this next year holds for us together... I think it's going to be a FUN year... it's so neat to see him explore and find out things and me be a bit calmer about it than I was with the other two boys... I mean I'm not relaxed or fly by the seat of my pants or anything, but it is different the third time around... :)

I love this little blonde bombshell.  His smile seriously lights up the room.  He is getting his personality and it's so fun to experience.

 

"Wow!  This cake is amazing...I think I may need a 2nd piece!"

Do you see how good this cake looks on my face!?  You should try it!

The 3 Amigos!

Povitica with # 3

Every year my parents continue the tradition of making authentic Povitica that my grandparents made...traditional nut bread that is just amazing and I know I've said before "isn't a real holiday without it present"...

They made some one Thursday and Seth happened to be there also to "help"... he had a ball apparently with my dad's clamps that hold the fabric down on the table... tooling around under the table...

mover and a shaker...

so we've definitely got a crawler on our hands now.  this is full on hands and knees crawling...an occasional belly flop crawl, but really that's only when we're tired...it's full ahead motion now...oh and not just forward motion, but upward motion as well...

soo in the duplex a week...we've decided to try the stairs

Curt hears Seth kind of wimpering... little louder than normal...goes to see he's made it up a second step...and can't quite figure out what to do now...

Then a few minutes later...we take Seth up to change a diaper and set him in his crib and he decides to stand up!  this kid was on fire on Sunday... no stopping him... he's such a cutie pie!

Needless to say we need to get the gate up and lower the crib... up and down and up and down:)